Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are Beckets/Medal Loops?

A: Beckets are medal loops that are added to a uniform to hang medals on. When ordering beckets, please specify in the notes how many medals you want to wear so that the required number of beckets can be added. Beckets protect the fabric of the uniform from being damaged when pinning on medal brooches. They are hand-formed loops that stand proud of the surrounding fabric, which the medal brooch pin is then passed through to close. You will need to send us your jacket(s) for us to add these.

 

Some notes about Court Mounting:

Q: I am adding a sixth medal to my full sized medal set, will this mean that the whole set will need to be overlapped.

A: Generally speaking, we recommend overlapping 7 or more full-sized medals, and 10 or more miniatures. You can find the guidance we follow at TaylorMadeHQ regarding specific Armed Forces medal wear regulations online. But the following guidance may help:

For the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and the RN Cadet Forces - Court Mounting (excerpt from RN BRd3): Medals may also be worn court mounted. In this method the ribands are mounted on a frame of which the lower edge is in line with the centre of the medals.  Commencing from the lower edge of the frame each riband runs over the upper edge and down to the ring of the medal.  The medals are stitched down to the ribands.  Court mounted medals may also be overlapped however, personnel with 7 or more court mounted medals should always wear them overlapped.  Individuals with 6 or more medals may have them court mounted at crown expense.  Personnel with 5 or less medals who wish to have them court mounted may do so at their own personal expense. 

For the British Army and their Cadet Forces (inc CCF(A) (excerpt from Dress Regulations Part 13): Method of Court Mounting  a. Full Size Medals.  A backing of buckram 69.85 mm deep by width required, depending on the number of Medals.  Medal ribbons should be placed side by side up to and including a quantity of 6 Medals unless the width of these 6 medals extends past the left shoulder seam of the uniform. In this instance, the 6 medals may be overlapped. 7 or more court mounted medals should always be overlapped with the senior ribbon nearest the centre of the chest being left fully exposed.  The overlap of ribbons will vary depending on the number of Medals worn and the size of the individual’s chest.  At no time should more than two-thirds of any ribbon be covered by another; the overlap of each ribbon should be equal.  The Medal is suspended from a ribbon so as to allow the centre of a round Medal to be cut in half by the backing, ie the nose of the impression of a sovereign’s head on a Medal should rest on the bottom edge of the backing.  The overall length of a suspended Medal will be 88.9 mm.  No Medal should be suspended from less than 31.74 mm of Medal riband; in the case of a larger Order, Decoration or Medal, the Part 13 Sect 2 - 3 backing may be increased to 76.2 mm depth to allow a minimum of 31.74 mm of riband suspending the Medal.  A standard issue Medal brooch should be sewn to the back of the buckram.  The back overall should be covered by a black face cloth or doeskin, with the exception of the Guards Division, whose Medals are backed with scarlet.  Medals are sewn down with a neutral coloured thread.  When mounted, the bottom edges of the Medals, regardless of their size, should be level. 

b. Miniature Medals.  Miniature medals may be worn court mounted or in an ordinary style. In both instances, medals are to be suspended from ribands of a width of 16mm. The length of the brooch should not normally exceed 14.7cm i.e. nine miniatures not overlapped but a larger number of miniatures may necessitate a longer brooch to avoid overlapping.  If the number of miniatures can not be sensibly fitted to a longer brooch, then miniatures may be overlapped. At no time should more than two-thirds of any ribbon be covered by another; the overlap of each ribbon should be equal.  When court mounted, the medal is suspended from a ribbon so as to allow the centre of a round Medal to be cut in half by the backing, ie the nose of the impression of a sovereign’s head on a Medal should rest on the bottom edge of the backing.  The bottom edges of miniatures should be aligned and not exceed 57mm from the top of the riband to the lowest point of the miniature. The lengths of each individual riband will consequently vary according to the height of each order badge, decoration and medal. The number of clasps, bars or emblems attached to the riband of any miniature may require that ribands across the whole brooch be of additional length. Sets of miniatures are illustrated at Annex A to Section 3. 

For the Royal Air Force and their Cadet Forces (Inc CCF(RAF) (excerpt from AP1358, Ch 8): Court Mounting: With the exception of WOs & below in the QCS and personnel serving with the Queens Household, court mounting is carried out at private expense.  As an alternative, orders, decorations and medals may be mounted in 'court' style, i.e. the insignia are mounted on a frame, the length of which will depend on the first order, decoration or medal to be mounted.  The frame must show 1¼" (3.2cm) of riband from the top of the frame to the ring or bar of the order, decoration or medal.  The riband is extended over the back of the frame and up the front, so that it covers the frame behind the insignia.  The insignia are sewn to the frame, which should reach to approximately the centre of the orders, decorations or medals; they are to be level at the bottom edge.  The main advantage of the 'court' style, mounting is that the insignia are fixed firmly and the risk of damage by abrasion to enamelled and minted facings is reduced.

Some notes about Medal Ribbons:

The Royal Navy and the RN Cadet Forces: Some orders of dress call for full sized medals to NOT be worn, and instead the wearer will have a set of medal ribbons sewn on to their suit jacket. This is called 'worn apart' and the regulations state:

a. When ribbons are worn apart from the orders, decorations and medals themselves a ribbon is worn for each medal, etc except the Garter, Thistle and St Patrick.  The ribbon is the same for all classes of an order.

The ribbon is to be worn from the date of the official notification of the award.

b. Length of ribbons to be worn:

RN, and personnel - 13mm, but with more than five rows ribbons 10mm long may be worn.

Royal Marines - 10mm all cases.

c. The width of the ribbon is to be that of the riband attached to the order, decoration or medal itself.  For orders, the width is that of the riband of the lowest class.

The normal width in each case is 32mm.

d. The ribbons are to be sewn on the garments, except on whites, tropical khaki and stone-coloured garments for which a detachable, brooch-type bar similar to the medal bar is to be used, with the pin inserted through beckets sewn in the correct positions. The ribbons are to be arranged in one or more rows as required, without either gaps or overlapping, in order of seniority as for medals, starting at the inside end of the top or only row.  The rows should be 6mm apart for officers and Royal Marines and 3mm for others, but officers and Royal Marines may reduce the distance apart if necessary to accommodate a large number.  The ribbons of orders, decorations and medals for which only private permission to wear has been given are not to be sewn on the garments. e. The ribbons are to be worn on the breast, as for medals, positioned as follows:

(1) RN Officers.  Top or only row 25mm below point of shoulder.  When additional rows are sewn to the garment the number of ribbons in each row should be such that all visible, while preserving as symmetrical an arrangement as possible.  The detachable bar may also have more than one row if necessary, in which case no row should be longer than the one above.

(2) Royal Marines.  First row centrally over the breast pocket, 6mm above the top seam of the pocket.  Additional rows centrally over the first, with no row shorter than the one above.  Not more than five ribbons to a row, and no row to extend nearer than 19mm from the shoulder seam, but each row to be completed to maximum width before another is started.

(3) Ratings.  Top or only row: on jackets: level with the point of lapel; on blue jumpers: 114mm below point of shoulder; on white uniform: 51mm below point of shoulder.  In each case, when there is more than one row, no row is to be shorter than the one above, and the whole display should be as symmetrical as possible about the vertical. f. Ribbons must not project outward beyond the point of the shoulder, or inward beyond the centre of the garment or under the lapel, and they must all be visible.

The British Army:

Positioning of Ribbons.  Ribbons are to be placed centrally over the left breast pocket button. They are worn in rows, the senior ribbon positioned nearest the jacket lapel or front buttons and in the top row when multiple rows are worn.  No ribbon should be fully hidden by the lapel.  The number of ribbons worn in a complete row is governed by the width of the breast pocket as the bottom row of medal ribbons is not to exceed the width of the breast pocket seam. On uniforms with no breast pocket, the number of medal ribbons on the bottom row is not to exceed 5.  When 2 or more rows are worn and there are insufficient ribbons to complete a row, it is the top row which is incomplete. The incomplete row is to be placed centrally above the top complete row, and is to contain ribbons of the senior Orders, Decorations or Medals.  Each row of ribbons is to be centred above the breast pocket button resulting in any variation of row length being distributed equally at each end of the row. Rows are to be approximately 3.175 mm apart and the ribbon width is to be the same width as the ribbon worn with the order, decoration or medal 13.08 Ribbons are to be stitched to the garment, preferably mounted on buckram or similar material except when being placed on warm weather area clothing when they are worn on detachable brooches. Brooches are provided at public expense to ORs but should be purchased and sewn at officers’ individual expense.  Step brooches are recommended. 

The Royal Air Force:

Positioning of Breast Ribbons.   Ribbons are to be worn in the sequence indicated in regulations, in importance with the senior ribbon nearest the lapel (and in the top row when more than one row is worn).  They are to be sewn without intervals on uniforms worn in temperate areas.  Ribbons are to be 7/16" (11mm) long and those of orders are to be the width of the ribbon of the membership of the order.  If there is no membership class the ribbon is to be the width of the companionship of the order (i.e. 1½" (3.8 cm) for the Orders of the Bath and British Empire).  A row is to consist of not more than four ribbons.  When more than four ribbons are worn, they are to be made up to display as many complete rows of four as possible with any incomplete row at the top.  Each succeeding row is to be placed centrally above the row immediately below it, except when it is necessary for any row or rows to be shortened.  To ensure that no ribbon is either wholly or partly obscured by the lapel or collar, the upper row or rows is/are to be shortened as necessary to display as many complete ribbons as possible in the space between the edge of the lapel or collar and sleeve head seam.  The edges of the ribbons nearest the shoulder in each complete row must be in line  vertically with the bottom row.  The bottom row of ribbons is to be located immediately and centrally above the flap of the breast pocket, or in a similar position where pockets are not fitted.  The space between rows is to be 1/8" (3mm) but, if four or more rows are worn, they are to be without space between rows.